Insertion-site decision-support systems and methods

Abstract

A decision support system for a patient includes a storage device holding data of various insertion sites. Each site represents an area on a human body at which a medical device can be inserted into the body. Also stored are data indicative of sites that have been used by the patient. A processor determines whether various sites are recommended and indicates recommendations on a display. The processor receives a selection of a site and updates the stored data. The system can also determine recommendations for two different medical devices and update stored data indicative of the used sites for one of them with a selected site. A method of recommending an insertion site includes receiving an indication of a site that should not be used, determining whether each of the sites is recommended using the indication, displaying the recommendations and updating the stored data based on a received user selection.

What is claimed is: 
     
         1 . A decision support system for a patient, the system comprising:
 a) a user interface including a display and an input device;   b) a processor coupled to the user interface to provide graphic output and receive input; and   c) a storage device coupled to the processor and holding:
 i) data of a plurality of insertion sites, each insertion site representing an area on a human body at which a medical device can be inserted into the body; and 
 ii) data indicative of insertion sites that have been used by the patient; 
   d) the processor being configured to receive via the user interface medical records of the patient and an indication of an insertion site that should not be used and store the medical records and the indication in the storage device, so that the processor:
 i) determines whether each of the insertion sites is recommended via the stored medical records, the stored indication, the data of the plurality of insertion sites, and the data indicative of the used insertion sites; 
 ii) presents on the display a visual representation of at least some of the insertion sites and whether each of the at least some of the insertion sites is recommended; 
 iii) receives a selection of one of the displayed insertion sites via the user interface; and 
 iv) updates the stored data indicative of the used insertion sites with the selected one of the insertion sites. 
   
     
     
         2 . The system according to  claim 1 , wherein the processor is further configured to repeatedly determine the recommendations, present the representations, receive the selections, and update the stored data. 
     
     
         3 . The system according to  claim 1 , wherein the processor is configured to determine whether the selected one of the insertion sites is not recommended and, if not, to present an indication on the display. 
     
     
         4 . The system according to  claim 1 , wherein the processor is configured to process the stored medical records to determine whether there is likely to be subcutaneous fat in the patient's body at each of the plurality of insertion sites, so that the processor determines that each of the plurality of insertion sites is recommended only if there is likely to be subcutaneous fat at that one of the plurality of insertion sites. 
     
     
         5 . The system according to  claim 1 , wherein the processor is configured to present the visual representation of one or more of the insertion sites that are different from the insertion site indicated as the one that should not be used. 
     
     
         6 . The system according to  claim 1 , wherein the input device comprises a touch sensor configured with respect to the display to form a touchscreen, and the processor is configured to receive the selection by detecting a touch on the touchscreen at a location corresponding to the visual representation of one of the displayed insertion sites. 
     
     
         7 . A decision support system for a patient, the system comprising:
 a) a user interface including a display and an input device;   b) a processor connected to the user interface to provide graphic output and receive input; and   c) a storage device coupled to the processor and holding:
 i) data of a plurality of insertion sites, each insertion site representing an area on a human body at which a medical device can be inserted into the body; 
 ii) medical records of the patient; 
 iii) data indicative of the insertion sites that have been used by the patient for a first medical device; and 
 iv) data indicative of the insertion sites that have been used by the patient for a second medical device different from the first medical device; 
   d) the processor being configured to determine that each of the insertion sites is recommended for the first medical device, the second medical device, both of the medical devices, or neither of the medical devices via the stored medical records, the stored indication, the data of the plurality of insertion sites, and the data indicative of the used insertion sites for the first and second medical devices, so that the processor:
 i) presents on the display a visual representation of at least some of the insertion sites and the determined respective recommendations; 
 ii) receives via the input device a selection of one of the displayed insertion sites and a selection of one of the medical devices; and 
 iii) updates the stored data indicative of the used insertion sites for the selected one of the medical devices with the selected one of the insertion sites. 
   
     
     
         8 . The system according to  claim 7 , wherein the processor is further configured to receive an indication of one of the plurality of insertion sites that is in use by the first medical device, so that the processor determines that each of the plurality of insertion sites within a selected distance of the indicated insertion site is not recommended for the second medical device. 
     
     
         9 . The system according to  claim 7 , wherein the processor is configured to present the visual representation showing only ones of the plurality of insertion sites that are recommended for the selected one of the medical devices or both of the medical devices. 
     
     
         10 . The system according to  claim 7 , wherein the storage device further stores data defining a medical criterion applicable to a selected one of the plurality of insertion sites and a selected one of the medical devices, and the processor is configured to determine whether the stored medical records satisfy the criterion and, if not, that the selected one of the insertion sites is not recommended for the selected one of the medical devices. 
     
     
         11 . The system according to  claim 7 , wherein the processor is further configured to determine that each of the plurality of insertion sites is recommended for one of the medical devices only if that one of the plurality of insertion sites is not indicated in the stored data for the corresponding one of the medical devices as having been used less than a selected time ago. 
     
     
         12 . The system according to  claim 7 , wherein the input device comprises a touch sensor configured with respect to the display to form a touchscreen, and the processor is configured to receive the selection of one of the displayed insertion sites by detecting a touch on the touchscreen at a location corresponding to the visual representation of the one of the displayed insertion sites. 
     
     
         13 . A method of recommending an insertion site, the method comprising automatically performing the following steps using a processor:
 receiving, via a user interface, medical records of a patient and an indication of an insertion site that should not be used;   storing the medical records and the indication in a storage device;   determining whether each of the insertion sites is recommended using the stored medical records, the stored indication, stored data of a plurality of insertion sites, and stored data indicative of the used insertion sites;   displaying a visual representation of the plurality of insertion sites;   receiving a selection of one of the insertion sites via the user interface;   updating the stored data indicative of the used insertion sites with the selected one of the insertion sites; and   repeating the determining, displaying, receiving, or updating steps at the request of the patient.   
     
     
         14 . The method according to  claim 13 , further including determining whether the selected one of the insertion sites is recommended, and if not, displaying an indication. 
     
     
         15 . The method according to  claim 13 , further including receiving a second indication of an insertion site that should not be used. 
     
     
         16 . The method according to  claim 15 , further including automatically replacing the stored indication in the storage device with the second indication using the processor. 
     
     
         17 . The method according to  claim 15 , further including automatically storing the second indication in the storage device so that whether each of the insertion sites is recommended is further determined using the stored second indication. 
     
     
         18 . The method according to  claim 13 , wherein the medical records include one or more items selected from the group consisting essentially of an indication of whether the patient has Type I diabetes or Type II diabetes, a height of the patient, a weight of the patient, a gender of the patient, and an age of the patient, and combinations thereof. 
     
     
         19 . The method according to  claim 13 , wherein the step of displaying the visual representations further includes displaying a visual representation of whether each of the plurality of insertion sites is recommended. 
     
     
         20 . The method according to  claim 13 , wherein the user interface includes a touchscreen, and the step of displaying the visual representation includes displaying the visual representation on the touchscreen.